LEGAL PROTECTION TO MANAGE FOREST RESOURCES BASED ON LOCAL WISDOM

Abstract Legal protection of forest resources is not only important for communities around the forest, but also the benefits of sustainable forests felt by wider public such as air, land and water quality, and climate. Management of forest resources based on local wisdom is one way to ensure the benefits and functions of forests maintained. Jambi Province and Thailand have various forest management initiated by the community still experience problems, especially in terms of legal protection. The certainty of management area from conflict, the threat of diversion, becomes a business area for forestry companies, plantations and even mining. Appropriate policies to address legal issues are faced both in Jambi Province and Thailand. The results of the study revealed; first, the management of local wisdom-based forest resources by people in Jambi has received recognition, meanwhile there are still problems with the variety of stipulation forms, such the minister decree, regent, and regional regulation. While in Thailand, there are constraints on the relationship with the government. Local wisdom-based forest management patterns in Thailand have not been supported by strong rules for the community to use forest resources for life. In addition, the benefits of environmental services in Thailand are good enough. Second, sustainability in local marinebased forest management is a common problem faced both in Jambi and Thailand. For this reason, improvements in policies appropriate for sustainability are needed. In Jambi, it requires legal products in the form of stipulations in a regional head (Bupati) decree on community forest management areas. While changes of regulations in Thailand can guarantee legal certainty for the community. Keywords: forests, legal protection, local wisdom